July 24, 2006 The hazelnut producers gathering for a protest organized by the Freedom and Solidarity Party in this progressive northern region town showed their anger to the government, the hazelnut buying agency, Fiskobirlik, and to the hazelnut traders. The rally attended by more than 2000 peasants was surrounded with iron barricades by the police. […]
July 24, 2006
The hazelnut producers gathering for a protest organized by the Freedom and Solidarity Party in this progressive northern region town showed their anger to the government, the hazelnut buying agency, Fiskobirlik, and to the hazelnut traders.
The rally attended by more than 2000 peasants was surrounded with iron barricades by the police. This scare tactic used by the cops prevented many from participating in the rally.
Some placards protesting the living conditions worsened by the economic situation read, “Freeze disaster, Flood disaster, Tayyip disaster, no benefit for growers!” referring to the prime minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s policies and “JDP will answer to the people!” referring to the Justice and Development party’s government.
On the stage prepared for the peasant growers, the vice president of the Freedom and Solidarity Party, Haydar İlker, and the representative of the “Platform to unionize the farmers” organization Abdullah Aysu and Hazelnut union president Kutsi Yaşar addressed the protesters.
An elder woman who stood on top of the rally bus also addressed the crowd, shouting, “I relied on the income from the hazelnuts. My son is getting married next week. I have no money. How will I ever get out of this debt?”
Haydar İlker, the president of the Freedom and Solidarity Party, “When the growers lost their crops due to freezing, the government did not come to their help. The growers again are victimized now as they are being left alone by their government. The JDP government is not reflecting the full value of the hazelnut in its buying price. We have always been on the side of those who sweat, on the side of the laborers. The fight for hazelnut in this region is actually our own fight. This is a fight for the peasants to put bread on the table. We will not allow this robbery of the peasants to continue.”
Abdullah Aysu, the president of the “Platform to unionize the farmers” organization said, “The JDP officials who told us, ‘if you elect us the hazelnut purchasing money is all available’ are now telling us when things didn’t go their way, ‘Go and get your money from whoever you gave your hazelnuts to. Hazelnut is not our issue.’ They are squandering the labor of the growers in their political struggles. The ruling JDP should stop using the Hazelnut buying agency Fiskobirlik as their political tool. Fiskobirlik should be strengthened. It should have the definitive authority from growing to marketing for the growers. The government should give credit zero percent credit to the growers who have given their crop to the agency but have not received any payments…”
Sendika.org
